But the Ottomans, in taking possession of this unique sanctuary, removed or destroyed its priceless furniture and decorations and concealed its matchless mosaic pictures—pictures which Ghirlandajo declares are “the only paintings for eternity”—with a layer of white-wash! And although in its present condition, it is still, despite Moslem desecration, the delight of the artists and architects of the world, its interior is as far from exhibiting the glories of its pristine state as is the exterior of the Parthenon, since its mutilation by Lord Elgin—an act of vandalism denounced by Byron as “a triple sacrilege”—from displaying the peerless beauty of the sublime creation of Ictinus and Phidias.
Is it then any wonder that Saint Sophia was, from its completion, regarded as the very heart of the Byzantine Empire—that it has ever held the same place in the affections of the Greeks as St. Peter’s, the Cathedral of Rheims, and Westminster Abbey occupy in the hearts of the peoples of Italy, France, and England? And is it a matter of surprise that,
Though turbans now pollute Sophia’s shrine
the Greeks of to-day still cherish the hope that it will, in the designs of Providence, eventually be returned to them and that Christian worship, with all the pomp of the Grecian liturgy, will again be restored under Santa Sophia’s wondrous dome?
It is related that when Mohammed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, took possession of Santa Sophia, he observed an Ottoman soldier destroying the mosaics of the church with his mace. “Let those things be,” Mohammed cried, and with a single blow he stretched the fanatical vandal at his feet. And then, in a lower tone, he added, so the historian avers, “Who knows but in another age they may serve another religion than that of Islam?” God grant it!
Nor have the Greeks ever abandoned the hope of one day regaining possession of the City of Constantinople. They claim it as their heritage, which was lost to them by the fortunes of war, and they patiently await the turn in fortune’s wheel when
The city won for Allah from the Giaour,
The Giaour from Othman’s race again may wrest.[43]
After leaving Santa Sophia, I spent some time in the extensive grounds of the Seraglio,[44] which, since the young Turks have come into power, have been used as a public park. About the buildings and the occupants of the Seraglio much has been written—the greater part of it based on imagination rather than on fact. But I have no desire to dwell on
That spacious seat